Improvement in steam-engine condensers



flthited gratte stent 691mm.

JOHN HOUPT, OF SPRINGTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 90,542, dated May 25, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N STEAM-ENGINE .coNDENsERs The Schedule referred to inthese Letters Patent and making of the same.

a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention consists of certain improvements, fully describedhereafter, in condensers and valves, to be used in connection with thesteam-engine for which Letters Patent were allowed to me on the 19th dayi of February, A. D. 1869.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use myinvention, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which formsa part of this specification, and in whichy Figure l is a verticalsectional view of sufdcient of a steam-engine to illustrate myimprovements;

Figure 2, a sectional plan view of the same, on the line 1-2, fig. 1;and

Figure 3, a section on the line 3 4, tig. 1.

The condensing-apparatus represented in the drawing consists of a casingof thin metal, the interior of which is divided by a partition, b, intotwo compartments, A and A', the former of which is merely4 a'steam-reservoir, while the latter and largest compartment forms thecondenser proper.l v

Exhaust steam from the engine is admitted into the compartment A througha pipe, B, provided with a valve, G, which forms an important part of myinvention, and will be fully described hereafter; vand at the top of thecompartment A is a safetyvalve, b', of ordinary construction, forpermitting the escape of steam from the said compartment, should it atany time become overcharged.

A number of horizontal tapering tubes, D, contained entirely within thecompartment A of the condenser, is secured to the partition b, in such amanner that they shall communicate with the interior of the compartmentA,- and each of the said tubes is perforated with small holes throughoutthe entire length, and is provided, at its outer cud, with a perforatedbulb or rose c. v

FF F are rows of vertical tubes secured to thtl top ofthe condenser, andprojecting downward into the compartment A' of the same, between and oneach side of the rows of horizontal tubes,V D. These tubes F are open attheir upper ends, but should be wholly or in part closed at the bottom,and all of them are perforated with small holes throughout their entirelength, in the same manner as'the tubes D.

h It* h2 are vertical plates, so arranged within the compartment A thatthey shall direct currents of air and steam through the same in acircuitous course, as hereafter described; and extending between theplate hl and partition b, at a point beneath the pipes D, is

l an inclined partition, fi, provided with anopening, cov- `ered by avalve or damper, j, operated from without the apparatus by arod,'j. (Seeiig. 1.)

At the top, and at one end of the compartment A', is arranged anexhausting-fan, G, and' at the bottom of the said compartment are pipes,m, ml, and m2, for

carrying off the water of condensation, &c., as hereafter explained.

The operation of the condenserjs as follows:

Motion being communicated to the fan G, a partial vacuum is producedwithin the apparatus, causing air to enter at the upper ends of thetubes F, and to pass 4through the perforations of the same, in'numerous`small jets, the whole forming acurrent, which is direct'ed, by theplates h, h1, and h2, in the course of the arrows,"1ig. l, towards thefan. 4

The exhaust steam drst enters the compartment or receiver A, where itspressure is somewhat equalized, and passes thence into the compartmentA', through the horizontal tubes D, it issuing-from the perforations ofthe latter, and from the roses or bulbs c of the same, in numerous smalljets, and becoming thoroughly commingled with the jets of cold air fromthe tube F, by which it is rapidly condensed.

The partitions 'or deflecting-plates h, h, and h, cause the combined airand steam to take the circuitous course before described, so that thegreater portion of the steam may become condensed, and fall to thebottom of the apparatus, before the currents reach the fan, and areexpelled by the same through the discharge-pipe g.

The object of the partition t, beneath thepipes D,

is to prevent the hot steam, as it emerges from the latter, fromcomingin contact with and vaporizing the condensedsteam water at the bottom ofthe appa'- ratus; and the valve j, which can remain partially open,permits the escape of any water which may accumulate upon the saidpartition.

The condensed-steam water is drawn o, from time to time, through thepipe m, and may be used as feedwater for the boiler, and theoverflow-pipe m prevents more than a certain quantity of water toaccumulate in the apparatus, if it should not be drawn oi through thepipe m.

In the steam-engine forv which Letters Patent were allowed to me on the19th day of February, 18,69, a method was described for eiectuallycondensing highpressure exhaust steam, by passing it into two condensersinstead dof one, as heretofore.

The first condenser was to receive all of the exhaust steam above acertain pressure, when a valve was closed, and a second condenserpermitted'to exhaustthe remainder of the steam, and to produce therequired vacuum in the steam-cylinder.

My present invention is intended principally to be used in connectionwith the above arrangement, for

receiving and condensing the first portion of the exhaust steam, thevalve O in the supply-pipe forming,-

nected to the slotted end of a rod, o, which receives i its motion froman eccentric on the main shaft of the engine, and a spring, t, bearingagainst the lower arm of the lever n, has a constant tendency to retainthe valve upon its seat.I

The valve is operated by means of the rod lr, atthe moment exhaust steamis to be passed into the con denser, and when the pressure of the steamhas been sufficiently reduced, the valve is closed by means of, thespring t, (the end of the eccentric rod being s lotted, as abovementioned, to permit this independent action of the spring.)

My object in thus operating it being closed before the pressure cf thesteamis sul ciently reduced, which might occur if the valve wasoperatedby the rod alone.

I claim as my Letters Patentinvention, and desire to secure by the Valveis to prevent through which steam is discharged, and perforated pipes F,communicating with the external air, substantially as described. I

2. The arrangement of the compartments A and A', perforated tubes D andFa'nd fan G, thewhole being constructed substantially as set forth.

witnesses.

- JOHN HOUPT.

Witnesses:

E. H. BAILEY, LOUIS BoswELL.

1. A casing, into which project perforated tubes D, y

3. The combination ofthe compartmentsA and A',

